Froch Doubts Fury Vs Usyk Will Go Ahead on May 18 – Or Happen At All

“Take that with a pinch of salt. They’re giving us something to think about. They’re giving us something to talk about and to keep the dream alive and keep all the fans intrigued.

“That date is something that’s been plucked out of the air and I think we’re being paid lip service because you can’t say May 18 because you don’t know what Fury is going to be doing now for the next two months and how that eye’s going to heal.

“It’s nice that they’ve got a date and they’ve put it in there and they still want it to happen but, to be honest, I don’t get excited when I hear that.”

Groves then asks Froch if he thinks the fight will even take place on the new date, himself believing that it won’t. Froch then responds: “I’m not so sure, because why is he sparring the way he is? To start with, I wasn’t so sure about the cut. I wanted to see him stitched up, and after seeing Tyson Fury last night on his Instagram, that cut to me doesn’t look like an acute injury. It looks like an injury that’s healing.

“It’s already scabbed over and the swelling and the bruising is showing. It looks about a week to 10 days old. What significance that has, I don’t know, but have they been sitting on this and waiting to time it right to give the news?

“And that sparring footage … was blurry and horrible and then we never saw the cut after he got elbowed. So I’m still dubious and have my reservations as to whether or not that fight will happen in May.”

‘Fury Is On The Slide’

Groves, who fought Froch twice during his career and once held the WBA super-middleweight title, shared Froch’s doubts, even saying he was never convinced the fight would happen when it was first made last year. The fight has now been delayed twice; it was first penciled it in for December 23 and then again for February 17.

“After the [Francis] Ngannou fight, I thought there’s no way Fury’s fighting Usyk next,” Groves said. “Then they were talking that it was going to happen on December 23, then they quickly announced it was going to be in February. There’s always that thought of, I’ll only believe it when it happens.”

Froch went on to claim that Fury is past his best. The Gypsy King’s most recent fight was against boxing novice Ngannou last October and he was lucky to escape with a split decision win having been knocked down in the third round by the former UFC fighter.

“He’s on the slide, he’s passed his best,” Froch said. “I watched his fights from when we talked about the Deontay Wilder fight, when he was throwing 20-30 feints every round, he was bouncing on his toes, he was putting combinations together, he was moving a lot.

“Now he’s slowing down, he’s throwing less feints, he’s killing the clock and he’s been dropped four times in his last 70 rounds. When you look at statistics and facts they do not lie and I think Tyson Fury is on the slide.”

Should the fight with Usyk go ahead on May 18, it will crown the first-ever undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era. The Ukrainian will put his IBF, WBA, and WBO titles on the line against Fury’s WBC strap.